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Friday, January 06, 2012

Hi everyone! I'm excited to share my version of the Tablet Keeper today! The Trace 'N Create Tablet Keeper template is a versatile pattern that can be made in 3 sizes for electronic tablets or paper tablets. The pattern is in the form of a template on clear plastic with cut-out areas where you can mark cutting lines, elastic placement, and strap placement.

I was really happy to be asked to participate in this blog tour, but when the template and other materials arrived, I found that the smallest size on the template was still much too big for my Kindle Fire. So I knew I was going to re-size the pattern to fit, but I was a little worried about getting it right.

First, I decided to use some of the fabrics from my Parisville fat quarter set. Here's the initial fabric (and interfacing) pull along with the template & instructions, rectangle rings, strap interfacing, and tablet keeper "shapers" which are hard plastic inserts for making the tablet keeper really sturdy.

Next I stewed about making the measurements right for a few days, then re-read the instructions and realized the fabric measurements were pretty much the finished product measurements because the inner and outer layers are sewn together wrong sides together and then it is bound. I came up with the following measurements for the inner and outer fabric layers, along with the two interfacing layers:

8 1/4" tall11 1/2" wide (or 5 3/4" from the fold--this will make sense if you have the instruction sheet)

I actually made a mistake and cut everything 8" tall and it worked out ok but I think it would be better with that added 1/4".Here's everything all cut out:

(Except I switched to a lighter fusible interfacing and didn't use the heavier interfacing shown here. The very top interfacing in the photo.)Also, two long strips cut from a fat quarter is *not* enough to bind the whole thing. Cut three strips across the long side of a FQ for your binding.

After getting everything cut out, I just followed the included instruction sheet and looked at Nancy's blog too for some visual help on making my tablet keeper. A couple other changes I made were the strap length and placement. I made my strap 21", aka the long side of a fat quarter. I should have made it about 1.5" longer. So, my recommended strap length for a Kindle Fire-sized Tablet Keeper is 22.5". Then the velcro placement line needs to be at 5 1/2" and the fold line needs to be at 6 1/2" from the end of the strap. Again, these measurements will make sense if you have the pattern sheet. For the strap placement, I just eyeballed the middle of the cover and put it where I thought it looked good with the print of the fabric.

Some more notes about making my Tablet Keeper:

*I used my walking foot to attach the firm interfacing (I think it's Peltex, not sure because I've had it for a long time.)

*The strap interfacing is really cool. You fuse it to your strap fabric and it has perforations that make it easy to fold in the sides perfectly. I am totally going to use this stuff next time I make a new bag.

*It would be really easy to add a pocket to the interior left side. I think if you do that you should make sure that whatever you put in it will be covered up completely by the pocket to avoid any scratching of your Kindle or whatever kind of electronic tablet you use.

*Elastic. I used a cut up hair band with non-slip grip stuff on one side, as recommended in the instructions. I am really happy with how securely it holds my Kindle in place. It was kind of difficult to sew through though, and I recommend you use a ball point needle and stitch really slowly over the elastic. I marked the elastic placement
using the template, I just positioned one corner of my tablet keeper on the template at a time, and moved it as necessary to mark all 4 corners.

*Tablet Keeper Shapers. These are the rigid plastic inserts for giving the tablet keeper good sturdy structure. I cut one of the large shapers into two small ones for the front and back of my tablet keeper, using my rotary cutter and ruler. It is not the easiest thing to cut, so be careful and go slow. I would suggest you measure your own tablet keeper for your tablet keeper shaper cutting measurements. My left one was cut to about 5" x 7 1/4" and the right one was a little wider, 5 1/8" x 7 1/4".

*Binding. I opted to sew the binding on the right side (outer side) of the tablet keeper and then hand stitch it down on the inside.

So here's my finished tablet keeper:

It actually turned out better than I thought it would! And it's quite sturdy too. I was worried about all the layers of fabric and interfacing before I sewed it up, thinking it would be too much for such a small cover, but it is just right.

Here it is opened up:

I really like it! If I made it again I think I would only change a few things: I would make it the full 8 1/4" tall I mentioned above. I would be more careful to make it more symmetrical, and I would make the strap a little bit longer too (it is folded over double from the ring to where it connects to the back of the cover and mine wasn't quite long enough to be doubled over that whole length.)

Thanks again to Nancy Zieman for asking me to participate in the tablet keeper blog tour. If you're interested in making your own tablet keeper, be sure to visit the other participating blogs and see how they customized theirs!

I'm so glad you shared the details for making this fit a Kindle Fire. I'll be using your notes in the future. I also want to play around with the strap and see if I can get it fold, so that I can use the case standing up.

My daughter got me a Kindle for Christmas last year. I really have enjoyed it. My husband just got me an Ipad2 for this Christmas. I have a smart cover for it. However, something over that to carry it with would be nice. Thanks for the giveaway.SallyKingemail@gmail.comwww.BabyStepsQuilting.com

That turned out so cute! I will definitely be back - I'm planning on getting a Fire with my tax $ this year and don't want to spend $40 for one! The only thing I'd like to add is a easel thingy so it's propped up...

Do you have any tricks for hand sewing your binding? I tried hand sewing the binding for my first tablet keeper but the shapers themselves are so stiff that I was having a hard time manipulating it enough to get my stitches even.